New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-02-20
FIVE FAMOUS PAINTINGS.

THE GEMS OF THE STEWART COLLECTION.
The average visitor to the American Art GALLERIES
tb, week will make his or her way directly as the
crowd nav permit toward two paintings OF
phenomenal reputation, Rosa Bonheurs Horse Fair
and Meissoner's 1907" The average artist or the
amateur apprcciative Fortunys subtle art Is hkey
to turn first to the HSerpent Charmer," and the
Shore of Portici." Had Rosa Bonheur never hved,
her brothers Cattle in the Fontainebleau Forest .
would have been famous picture The time mas not
vet for general discussion OF the stewart coec
ton the special interest of these five paintings
justides their special consideration.
Ibis il the orr ginai Horse Fair, first exhibited In
the salon of 1853 and brought to this country IN
1857 by w. =. Wright of Weeha.ken. 1t was not
the Horse Fair" however. which first made Rosa '
Nivcrnais" which il In the Luxembourg. Yet the
Horse Fair has taken frmer hold upon the popular
Imagination than any OF her pictures Ihls picture
was the result of eighteen months OF study at the o
Horse Market on the Boulevard dc HoPita, ana OF
conscientious labor in the studio Every one knows the
subject, the splendid white and dappcd Percherons
led or ridden by tricky grooms the black stallion
rearing in the middle OF he group, and all the varied
action of the crowd with an avenue OF trees oeyoh'
and the dome of the Inyalides In the distance.
Twenty or more horses with their attendants are
plainly and others indicated, ponies and cobs
as well ~ Norman stnons Pressng ,oward . edd .
to the euoges which have been avished Tor genera,
ton upon the truthlulness, intelligence fidelity ana
papnt observation shown In tho painting OF tncSe
horses the sodity and firmuess of the modelling.
which gives The effect OF work done IN the round,
instead of upon "a Hat surface, the icchg OF spaco
behind as well ~ before these noble brutes, the
exacness OF the drawing and the energy ana accuracy
of the ac.ion We need not repeat any OF the
multitudinous tales the artists experiences in her
masculine dress, OF persistent offers OF pott verrc
y these very groons, OF her varied adventures IN ao
batoirs and markets, hsr home and studio lie, her
pets her infinite capacity for labor and her generous
interest In phi lanihropc work. Perhaps 1t was u
dealer who began to Rosa Bonheurs sex us
found for her reputation, hut however the adrolt
" tl,, tca ms
helped TO transform "A hardworking conscientious;
wccquippe1 artist into romantic ana e1altcd
figure Add TO these influences tho many deserved
tributes to nobility and purity OF personal character,
the artists natural gtts and natural love Tor ana
understanding Of her subjects her Intelligence ana
faithnlness in study the strong sound workmanship
and healthy sentiment OF such picture as tho Horse
FAIR" and IT is not strange that in England and IN TINS
country Rosa Bonheur il popularity credited with
of the very highest places in modern art. In France,
where n subtlcr art feeling exists admiration OF her
work has been more temperate. and elsewhere the
verdict of traicd amateurs and thoughtful artists has
differed from the popular verdict In the substitution oil
profound esteem tor enthu-idstic culogy.
II was in the flush of such enthusiasm that some ono
declared Rosa Bonheurs " Oxen Flowing IN tho
Nivcrnas 10 be the list painting of ANNALS worthy
of comparison with Paul Potter's Bull" Since then
a colm or Judgment has recognized that Rosa BOnheur
il not coori-t and that she rot an imaginative
painter. The subject OF tho ior.e FAIR Is full OF
shirt and we may well be contented with 1t ns 1t Ia
without demanding the dramatic force or thrilling
color OF Delacroix, or the sometimes overwrough pas
sion OF Henri Regnaul But on the other hand there Is
nothing OF the curlcd periuned bcwigged, and he
powdered artitoiaity OF NorhoeckhoFen Inc changes
haye been rung upon comparisons between Rosa
Bonhcur and Edwin Landseer, but the TO mer was
content 10 paint animals ~ they are, the latter per
sonay superior in wit and culture, invested animals
with human intelli- and made them characters In
a story told with excessive il, enuty and facility
Rosa Bonheur grouped her animal. simply ana painted
them out OF hearty sympathy with and liking Tor
themselves but Iroyon painted them IA means to
tine expression of great art Much that We see here
doe. rroyun little irsrce, hut there are some vi his
pap IN
knowledge OF composition including the relations OF
shades aud tnts and ,biarOscuro 10 the general
effect the management of values, and the preservation
OF harmonious tonality At his best he never allowed
tho eve be distracted b., TINS or that local bit OF
fine texture brilliant color, but his pictures are
compositions full OF harmony. abonndn2 In delicate
rradativns more sensitive and lar more painter-like
than those o. Rosa Bonhedr All this as we have SAID
has been recogned 10y special students by EmShIheh
VIOLA and II not tor Rosa Bonheurs sex even
popular opinion would have placed her in the second
cA-s OF rnunl painters, while allowing lroyons title
&c the first. Tho iiorse.Far is "a noble example OF
n realism which does not occupy itself solely with
mean and petty things and does NOT STOOD 10 mere
imitation IL Is triumph OF wholesome purpose, oil
persistcnt elort and OF intelligent workmanship,
picture instantly commanding admiration aud re,
snect but whlo Troyons scnsitiyencss to color and
tctoriaI quality was VI In the painting OF land
sca1es a. well "a OF animals Rosa BoEheurs reputa
ton upon her faithful rendering OF animals Her
brothers range wider and Augusta BOnheur's
feeling for landscape s we'll suggested IN his admirable
painting Cattle In the Fontainebleau Forest u
huge canvas which, Ike the Horse far, occupied
one end OF tho stewart gallery. The scene Is one OF
the forest glados which Dsz and Rousseau loved 10
paint with the sunshine hltcrins down through the
foliage OF stately oaks and nothing with gold the
no.es ferns and grass and the yclvcty coats OF noble
cattle In dignled reposc. Beyond tho forest yistas
are shldowy and suggestive Close to Us In the fore
around are the cattle reclining al manner OF easy
attitudes. their action truthiully given the soitncss of
tncr coats exccllcnv rendered. and their coloring
varied still more by light and shade pleasant IA
tho contemplation Of their noble forms There is not
the art feeling OF some other painters of Fonaine-
bcnn but tho picture has truthful sentiment In its
way IL expresses the spirit oi tho forest and the pain
inc of cattle IN 80 admirable that this gound alone
we are more than disposed 10 quarrel with the IN
Justice done Auguste Bonheur Like his sister he was
moi an imaginative painter, but lie more impress
sionablc II ore sympathetic with the features OF land
scapcs and equally faithful in the Interpretation OF
his subjects.
unon The student of Mcissoner's lsO7." alter the
frat force of the pictures spirit dash and bnlllancy
I,s ancnt it-ef Mrssoncr's painting OF military sub
;.c,. Irran about 1852 lie bad passed from paint
inc, of single figures. frank studies OF character and
of costume for its own sake, To- The "fIayors nj
in the famous Salon of 1888 with the Horse Fair
and DclacroiIs " Pilgrims of Emmaus. La ike"
shown Mt the Universal Exposition OF 300 gained or
the artist the patronage OF Louis Napoleon AT about
this time Meissonicr began 10 paint larger pictures
and encouraged by commissions from the Emperor he
beoon 10 project his Napoeonc series lie visited
itniv TO obtain material tor his The Emperor at tho
battle OF Socrino " now in .he Luxembourg, which
was not exhibited until 1864, at the same time with
a., aIsIJ" I'm 1852 the " Napoleon In the Cam
nnicn of France" was exhibited In PARIS, picture
r,,hirL we believe was owned Tor many years by Mr..
Ru-kin and sold by him in 1882. Meissoniers
Napoconic cyclc was not completed, but OF tho
,,;ctirc. painted the 1914" S0lterino y and
1907 are easily the most important. Tho 1914
"a n simpler and quiet composition and will be
oonuted by mauy the masterpiece" but the 1907
rcnoios We think, tho artists largest painting in oils.
AZ present he Is reported 20 10 painting replica,
Win some notifications. in watercolors.
Weis.,,uicr brought to the complex task first
,r...ntcd by the SolfernO the same mdciatigablo
Industry and infinite capacity Tor painstnking shown
IN hi4 paintings OF single figures and small groups
~. sory i, familiar that Tor tho 1914 no had u
cont worn ry Napoleon copied by tailor "with n
Chinese cxactitIdc" aud DOMINIC the copy mounted
- woodcn horse in his studio and spent hours in
studying the tall OF the skirts, and again that ho
moved his horse TO tho honsetop and sat there In
snow storm sketcng the effect OF cold upon his lace as
snar I'm a mirror The mininGre landscape In his
o.' wLltn nnyzler which he droM